Hinge-joint for artificial limbs.



Png.

JAMES FRANCIS RowLEY, oFcIIIcnGo, ILLINOIS.

HIN GE-J' OIN T FCR ARTIFICIAL LIMBS.

Application lde .Tune 13, 1917. Serial No. 175,386.-

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES F. RowLEY, a citizen of theUnited Sta-te of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in-Hinge Joints for Artificial Limbs, of which the fol-t.

ber is in the form of a brace lofelliptical lowing is aspecification.

This invention relates to ball bearing joints of the general nature shown in applicants Patent No. 1,123,928, ankle joints for artificial limbs, butr the present device is ar-4 ranged with particular reference to the requirements for knee-joints.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a ball bearing joint which is light andl strong, and having small dimensions, free from projecting parts and permitting a steady, easy action of the joint; to provide a ball bearing .joint of this nature of minimum "axial dimension; and to provide a hinge joint for artificial limbs which is readily reversible for application to eitherr the right or left Sides of the limb.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the bearing as employed in a knee-joint for an artificial limb.

Fig. 2 is an edgel view.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged Section on the line A-LA of Fig. 1. t

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the bearing members. v l

Ball bearings are utilized in the present device, not for the usual purpose of reducing friction, but to produce a joint wherein, due to the rolling action of the bearing, the lack of'lubrication will not interfere with its desired action or produce sound. It is also preferable, particularly when the amputation is below the knee, that a joint of this nature should not be bulky, and it should be adjustable for the purpose of permanently regulating the pressure between the bearings and thus maintaining the desired? action. Y

In the drawings, the member 1 is suitably formed for attachment to the lower leg secj tion of an artificial limb, the front of the leg being to the left in this figure. This'memcross section and is providedl with drilled apertures 2 for. receiving the screws lby Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Innen, 19313.

which the strap or brace is secured to the lower legpsection. t'

The head 3 of the brace 1 is offset from 'the longitudinal Center line of the brace andl is of the proper thickness to be 'straddled by the forked vend of 'la member 4 which is. adapted to be attached to the thigh section of the limb. Adjacent to the forked portions 5 .and 6 of the member 4, thebrace 1 is somewhat enlarged to provide a curved surfaceliiushwith the surfaces of the forked portions 5 and 6. and-also to provide shoulders 18 for engagement with the forward edge of the member 4to limit the forward motion ofthe lower leg section around the joint.

The head-3 ofthe member 1 is provided With an annular bearing race 7 adapted to carry a plurality of balls 8. The arm or branch5 of the member 4' is provided .with an annular recess 9 on the inner sidethereof, adapted to receive and support a bearing cone 10 which'is provided with a central aperture 11 which registers with a threaded aperture 12in the branch 5. The branch 6. of the member 4 is provided .with a-centrally located cylindrical aperture'13 adapted to tightly receive the cylindrical head 14 of a screw 15 which passes through lthe aperture l1 in the cone 10 and has threaded connection with the threaded aperture 12 in the arm 5. The headr 14 is provided with a conical bearing surface 16 which is in opposed relation to the bearing surface of the cone 10, and together with said coneforms a split bearing race which coacts with the balls 8 and is in opposed relation to the annular ball race 7 in the member 3. The head 14 of the screw 15 is provided with a pair of apertures 17 adapted to receive a Spanner wrench for adjusting the screw 15. A s

The bearing is assembled by sliding'the head 3 of the member 1 between the branches 5 and 6 of the member 4. The

bearing cone 10 is then dropped through the aperture 13 in the member 6 into the recess' 9 in 'the member 5, thus locking the head 3 between thebranches 5 'and 6. The-balls `8 are then dropped intoplace, said balls be* ing held in the annular ball race 7 of the member 3 by the inclined surface of the passed through. the aperture 11 in the cone `bearing .cone 10. The screw 15 is then member in which it is shown branch 5 of the member 5. the screw l5 is adjusted so that the conical bearing surface 16 thereoi will coact with 'the balls S- and thus form, together with the cone l0, a split ball race which is in opposed relation to the annular' bearing race 7. fadjnstment oit the screw l5 is secured by means o a Spanner wrench engaging the apertures 'il' in the head le.

rEhe pressure between the members l and e through the balls S may be regulated by an adjustment or the screw l5, otherwise no direct contact between these members along` the surfaces 19 and 20 is necessary. ln practice, it is Aound that by having the bearing cone l0 :freely rotatable within its seat 9, once the device is adjusted, continued use of the joint does not adect such adjustment or rotation ot' the screw 15. The member i is reversible with respect to the member l, V'thus providing a knee-joint which can be used interchangeably on either the right or left side of an artiiicial limb. rilhe device is reversible by turning the member 4e with respect to the member l and bending the latter the opposite direction to that in bent in Fig. 2. rlhe bearing is suitable :tor elbow joints for artificial arms, in substantially the form shown in the drawings.

Another advantage of this constructionvis that the bearing cone 10 is not threaded on the shank of the screw l5, but is loosely seated with respect thereto and with re spect to the arm 5, andit is thereby seltalining. imperfections in the construction et the dierent bearing races aretaken care of by this loosely mounted, self-alining cone in such mannerthat the balls 8 will bear equally against their respective ball races.

Although but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit ot the invention as dened by the following claims.

l claim.:

l. A hinge joint tor artificial limbs, comprising a pair of members which are formed to intertit at one end by one member being forked to straddlevthe other, a ball race formed in the unforked'one of said members, and a pair ot bearing cones supported in said orked'member, one of said bearing cones having a shank threaded into one arm of said forked member and a ylindrical head fitting a cylindrical aperture in the remaining arm of said forked member.

2. Ahinge joint for artiiieial limbs, com- Vllhe head la ont neeaooe prising therein, a second member having a bitur'iy cated head, the branches ot said head being adapted to embrace the opposite sides ot said iirst-mentioned member, one of said branches having a recess therein, a bearing cone loosely carried in said recess, a second bearing cone supported. branches and having threaded relation with said one branch, said cones having their bearing surfaces in opposed relation to each other and 'forming a split bearing race located in opposed relation to the bearing race in saidlirst-mentioned member, and rollers eoacting between said bearing races.

3. ik hinge joint :tor artiticial limbs, comprising a pair ot members which are formed to intertit at one end, a ball race formed in one of said members, a stud mounted on one ot' said members and passing through the other ot said members so as to hold said members together, a loosely mounted bearing cone surrounding said stud, and rollers coacting with said bearing cone and'ball race.

et. A hinge joint for artificial limbs, comprising a pair of members which are formed to interit at one end by one member being Jforked ,to straddle the other, a ball race formed in the untorked one of said mem bers, and a pair of bearing cones supported by said forked member, one of saidfbearing ,cones being supported by one arm of said forked member and having an aperture therethrough, and the other of said cones having a head supported by the other arm or' said forked member and a shank extending through the aperturel in said one cone and directly connected to said irstmentioned one arm. i

5. A joint for artiiicial limbs, comprising to receivethe other vin hinge relation, said members beingv apertured' in 'coaxial 'alinement with the hinge' axis and provided with ball races respectively, balls coacting with said'races, the race forv the forked member being split and including a part set in projecting from the inner face .of one of the fork arms, and apart having a head held lin the aperture of the opposite arm anda shank extending through the first mentioned part and supported in said one arm, and means for adjusting the spacing oi.: said parts, the aperture in said opposite arm being adapted to admit both of saidparts in assembling the joint.

Signed at Chicago thisllth day of J une, 191

anims renners nowtnr.

a member having a bearing race by the other oit saidV the aperture of the a pair of members one of which is forked limi and g lill@ 

